Top story: ‘Don’t be bystanders in history’
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian morning briefing. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories this Tuesday morning.
Donald Trump will tell the United National general assembly later today that the world community must confront the twin threat of North Korea and Iran or risk being “bystanders” in history. In his first address to the assembly in New York – due at 2.30pm BST – the US president will focus on regimes that threaten world security, warning that if they are not faced down “they will only gather force”, the White House said. The words will be compared to George W Bush’s “axis of evil” speech in 2002 which singled out North Korea, Iran and Iraq as threats to peace, and was the prelude to the Iraq war in 2003. But US allies are likely to counsel against any aggression towards Iran, with France warning Trump on Monday that scrapping the nuclear deal with Tehran risks a “spiral of proliferation”. Also, most allies believe it will be hard to make economic sanctions stick against Kim Jong-un’s regime.
Trump, meanwhile, wants to have a military parade in Washington to mark 4 July after being impressed by the march past in Paris on Bastille Day.
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Mighty Maria – Hurricane Maria has wrought destruction on the Caribbean island of Dominica overnight as the eye of the storm scored a direct hit on the former British territory, bringing 160mph winds and lashing rain. The prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, posted that he had been rescued after the roof blew off his home. The category five storm is expected to head across the eastern Caribbean towards Puerto Rico and the British and US Virgin Islands – an area devastated by Hurricane Irma two weeks ago. Follow the latest developments in our live blog.
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Debt timebomb – The government needs to tackle the personal debt mountain being built up by British households, the chief financial regulator has warned, as new figures show that there are 8.3 million people in the UK with problem debts. Beginning a series examning Britain’s £200bn pile of unsecured consumer credit, Financial Conduct Authority chief Andrew Bailey says he is concerned about the number of people who need loans to meet everyday costs such as power bills.
You can find a detailed picture of Britain’s debt problem here, revealing that 86% of cars in Britain are now bought using so-called personal contract purchase deals where the funding is provided by the car makers. Our economics editor Larry Elliott analyses the debt bomb and concludes it wouldn’t take much to light a short fuse.
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‘We too are concerned’ – Aung San Suu Kyi has broken her silence over the crisis facing the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar’s north-west. The de facto leader of the country has been heavily criticised for failing to speak out about the plight of the people, 400,000 of whom have been forced to flee their homes into Bangladesh following an outbreak of violence many have blamed on government troops. In a speech in the nation’s capital she said the government needed to find out “what the real problems are” before taking action, although she claimed most Rohingya had not been affected. Despite saying she was “concerned”, she mentioned the Rohingya by name only once, in reference to the armed militant group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.
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‘A mess up’ – Ryanair has written to 400,000 passengers to tell them that their flights have been cancelled after a mistake with the airline’s pilot roster forced the drastic action. Chief executive Michael O’Leary admitted on Monday that it was “a mess of our own making” and that it would cost £22m to compensate passengers, some of whom would be left without flights over the October school half-term break.
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Rio in the ring – Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand will attempt to become a professional boxer at the age of 38 after taking up the sport to stay fit in retirement from football and to channel his grief after the death of his wife. He follows in the footsteps of ex-Sheffield United midfielder Curtis Woodhouse and the former Norwich striker Leon McKenzie.
Lunchtime read: The boy who killed
As part of our Beyond the Blade series, Gary Younge reports on the stabbing murder of Quamari Serunkuma-Barnes in north London in January and tries to shed some light on what drove another teenager to take his life. Sean – not his real name – is now serving 14 years in prison but his mother reveals how, when it was clear her son was heading for a life of crime, she fought to get him counselling, consulted with social workers and even tried to move out of London to keep him away from the wrong crowd. This moving report reveals the human story behind the bare statistic that 26 children and teenagers have died in stabbings already this year.
Sport
Manchester United fans have been urged to stop singing a chant about star striker Romelu Lukaku that makes reference to the size of his manhood. In cricket, there will be some added spice at Old Trafford today when Chris Gayle plays his first ODI since 2015, expert provocateur Ben Stokes returns and England prepare for a rare sighting of their captain, Eoin Morgan. Joe Marler has been reprimanded for his spat with James Haskell during Harlequins’ victory against Wasps but the England prop is not facing a suspension. And a British endurance athlete has broken the record for travelling around the world by bike, arriving back in Paris on Monday 78 days, 14 hours and 14 minutes after he set off.
Business
Asian stock markets have slipped overnight as investors await the outcome of the US federal reserve’s latest meeting which is expected to map out further unwinding of its massive monetary stimulus program. But MSCI’s world index hit a record high on Monday caused by a perfect storm of feel-good factors explained here by our markets expert Nick Fletcher. The pound is at £1.356 and €1.13.
The papers
Several papers lead with Ryanair’s embarrassing mistake with its holiday rota. The Mail calls it a “Flightmare”, while the Mirror says it is “The shaming of Ryanair”. Metro and the London-only City AM also lead with the story. The Sun is annoyed that Facebook has allegedly banned an RAF charity that helps disabled people learn to fly.
Elsewhere, Brexit leads the way again. Under the headline “May issues rebuke to Johnson and tightens grip on Brexit talks”, the FT suggests the prime minister has emerged stronger from the weekend’s spat. The Guardian says May is trying to regain control of Brexit, but leads with an investigation into Britain’s growing personal debt problem. The Times also says May is trying “to rein in Johnson”, while the Telegraph goes with the angle that former Tory leader William Hague has warned that May “must unite Tories on Brexit or lose the election”.
For more news: www.theguardian.com
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